Midnight never turns into a house. Okay, maybe one of those tiny houses that people are building these days. She claims she looks like she swallowed a huge watermelon. The kid is going to take after me, unfortunately.

It’s November, and we’re watching TV when she gets up to waddle into the kitchen for a glass of water. I’d gladly do it, but she claims sitting too long only adds to her aching back.

As she’s standing there, she yelps like a puppy.

I’m there in a second. “What’s wrong?”

She lifts up her shirt and her pants are wet.

“Did you pee?”

“My water just broke. I’d better shower so we can go to the hospital.”

I help her to the bathroom and almost want to jump in with her.

Prescott and Vivi had their baby, a girl, and he claimed it was awful—the most nerve-wracking thing ever. I’m beginning to understand that now.

“Are you okay in there?”

“I’m fine.”

About thirty seconds later, I ask, “How’s it going?”

“Good.”

Another thirty seconds pass and I can’t take it anymore. “How long ...”

“Harrison, I have to rinse off. Jeez, give me a minute.”

She finally comes out and her hair’s wet. “You washed your hair?”

“Yeah. I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to again.”

“Okay, let me help you dry it.”

“No, we’re going with it wet. Did you call the doctor?”

“Was I supposed to?” She gives me the you’re a dumbass look. Of course I was supposed to call. “Right, I’m calling now.” We’ve had this thing rehearsed forever and now I’m failing miserably.

“You can call on the way. Did you grab my bag?”

“Your bag?”

“Yes, my bag for the hospital.”

“Right. I’ll get it now. Uh, where is it again?”

“In the closet, remember?”

I slap my forehead. “Right.” I run to her closet and grab it. Then I run out to the car, only I leave her standing in the bedroom. I run back inside and she’s smirking at me. Shit. “Let’s go.”

At least I’m together enough to usher her to the Mercedes and not the Mustang.

“Hang on.”

“What?”

“I need to grab something.” I jog to the Mustang and grab her bag out of the backseat where I tossed it. She rubs her temple.

I buckle up and we leave.

“Did you call the doctor?” she asks.

Shit. “I will now.”

She grabs me by the shoulder and says, “Honey, take a deep breath. Now. For me.”

I pause and do as she asks.

“Better?”

Nodding, I command the car to make the call to the doctor. When the answering service picks up, I say, “This is Harrison Kirkland and we’re on the way to the hospital. We’re having the baby.” Then I hang up.

Midnight taps my arm.

“Yeah?”

“You do realize my last name is Drake.”

She didn’t change it because of her movie career. I’m not that big of an egomaniac, so I was cool with it.

“Yeah.”

“The answering service has no idea who the patient is. I think I’d better handle this.” She ends up calling. It works out much better that way.

Midnight is given a room and the nurse arrives. She’s progressing well and eventually gets the epidural, which may help me as much as her. I’m doing my best to remain calm, but the truth is, I’m worse than a wreck. To see my wife, scared to death, groaning and writhing in pain, and not able to help her is the worst-case scenario for this fixer. I want to knock down the walls of this place. The nurses hate me. Not once, but several times I was down at their little station, demanding someone do something for her. They all assured me it was normal.

I finally grabbed one by the arm and got in her smug little face. “Listen to me. It may be normal for you, but the last time my wife had a baby, it was born with a congenital heart defect and ended up dying. This is traumatic for both of us, but especially her. Can’t you do something?”

The smugness instantly disappears and is replaced with sympathy. “I’m so sorry. We’ll have the doctor in there immediately.”

The doctor shows up soon after and Midnight gets much better care after that. Our daughter finally announces her arrival into the world with one hell of a screech. They hand the baby over to us and Midnight has a loopy grin on her face.

“Guess she doesn’t like it out here too much,” she says.

“It’s too bright for her. She wants to be all snug and cozy again.” She’s kicking her tiny legs out and crying again.

Then Midnight asks, “Is our baby ... is she okay?”

The doctor moves to the other side of Midnight from where I’m standing. “Yes, she is. Hear that cry? See how she’s kicking her legs and how strong she is? And look how pink her skin is. She’s healthy.” The doctor takes a stethoscope and listens to the baby’s heart. “She has a strong heartbeat too. Her Apgars are fine.”

Midnight’s smile brightens the room even further. A nurse comes over to wrap the little one in a blanket.

“Are you going to bathe her?” Midnight asks.

“Yeah, but we wanted to let you hold her awhile,” the nurse says.

“Isn’t she beautiful?” Midnight asks me.

“Looks exactly like her mother. Now we have to decide on her name.”

“I want to go with your suggestion.”

“And what if her eyes aren’t lavender?” I ask.

“I still like it.”

“Lavender Summer Kirkland.”

She moves the blanket down to get a good look at the baby’s face. “Are you sure it’s not a goofy name? I don’t want her going through life with a name like I did.”

“There’s the other option.”

“You mean Harley?”

“Yeah. Harley Lavender Kirkland.”

Midnight lets out a fierce laugh. “Helen would absolutely love that.”

“And who’s your best friend?”

“Helen.”

“Let’s do it. Harley, it is. I love the sound of that. Harley Kirkland.”

The nurse comes over to take Harley to be weighed and measured.

Midnight grabs my arm and clamps down on Harley with the other. Her eyes dart around the room. “You can’t take her.”

“It’s okay. They’re going to bring her right back.”

“No, you don’t understand. The last time they took my baby, it was bad news.” She’s crying now and the nurse tries to take Harley again.

“You can’t have my baby,” Midnight cries. I’m trying to soothe her, but the nurse won’t leave her alone.

“We only need to weigh and measure her. After we bathe her we’ll bring her right back to you.”

The doctor hears the commotion and comes over. “Here, let’s get a quick weight and measurement now. I think the baby will be okay for a little while longer and then maybe Ms. Drake can go with you when you bathe her.”

“How does that sound, Midnight? You want to bathe the baby with the nurse?” I ask.

“Yeah.”

Another nurse moves in. “I have an idea. We’ll bring everything to your room and bathe the baby there. How’s that?”

Midnight is still drowsy so she nods. I take Harley and hand her to the nurse so she can weigh her. Maybe by tomorrow, Midnight will be over her panic.

The nurse hands Harley back and she rests on Midnight’s chest until she falls asleep. About fifteen minutes later, she’s crying and wanting to be fed.

The nurse, true to her word, brings in everything necessary to bathe Harley and Midnight happily watches them clean her up.

Harley doesn’t have any issues with latching on. This is Midnight’s first go-round with breastfeeding too. When she had baby Jack, she was so stressed out, she didn’t produce enough milk at first so they had to supplement his feedings in the hospital with formula, and later she wasn’t eating enough to keep up the demand so her milk dried up. That won’t be the case this time.

I watch the two of them, and it’s more than amazing to see how we created this tiny life. It steals my breath when I think about it.

All of a sudden, Harley lets out a wail.

“Guess she didn’t like that.”

“Like what?” I ask.

“Being switched to the other side.”

Once she finds her food source again, she’s a happy little thing. I marvel at them, the lovesick fool that I am. Midnight’s lids droop with exhaustion. I’m amazed she’s even still awake after giving birth. I’d be taking a twelve-hour nap. Pulling out my phone, I take some quick photos. She might want to kill me, but the two of them look absolutely beautiful.

Being as quiet as I can so I don’t wake up the new mom, I bend down to see if Harley is asleep. Her eyes are slammed shut. This may be tricky, but I gently pick her up and cradle her to my own chest. She makes a tiny squeak, but that’s it. I cover Midnight up with the blanket and sit down in the large recliner, laying the baby on my chest.

A few hours later, or I think it’s that, a lusty cry awakens both Midnight and me. I jolt with the baby in my arms and realize where I am.

Midnight sits up in the bed and laughs. “We have a baby, and a loud one at that.”

“She must take after her mother.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because I’ve heard you yell like that a time or two.”

“Funny. Here, I’ll take her. I bet she’s hungry.”

“Or maybe a dirty diaper?”

“Maybe. I’ll let you handle that.”

I’m instantly squeamish. “Me?”

“Yep. You need to get used to it. There’ll be plenty of them.”

Midnight gives me step-by-step instructions and it goes pretty well, until the diaper falls off when I’m done. She falls back on the bed in hysterics.

“It won’t work.”

“Make sure that Velcro stuff sticks, dummy.”

“Shit.”

“And don’t curse around her.”

“She’s only a few hours old.”

“We need to start now.”

“You’re right. I’ll be better,” I say.

There’s a knock on the door and a cute elderly lady comes in dragging two carts behind her. They’re loaded down with floral arrangements. “I have deliveries for you. Where shall I put them?”

“Wherever you can find room, I guess,” I say.

I read Midnight all the cards. They’re from everyone at the office, Mom and Dad, Weston and Special, and Prescott and Vivi.

“They’re lovely.”

“Not as lovely as you. I have something for you.” I dig into the pocket of my jeans.

“What is it?”

“Close your eyes.”

When she does, I hand take her hand and place the ring in her palm. When we got married, I only had a band for her. But today I’m giving her the diamond. It’s a little backward, but what the hell.

“Harrison, it’s beautiful.”

“You like it?”

“I love it.”

She slides the ring onto her finger. It’s a round diamond but the band is what the jeweler called an eternity ring. I thought that was appropriate for us. “Since I didn’t give you a diamond for our wedding, I thought now would be a good time.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for our daughter. She’s the greatest gift of all.”

“I’m glad you didn’t give up on me and walk away when I was such a bitch to you.”

“How could I? I was craving Midnight too much to do that.” I lean down and press my lips to hers. It’s always the same when I kiss her ... it’s never enough and I’ll always crave more.

Three Months Later

---

The cameras flash as we walk down the red carpet, my hand on Harrison’s arm, and we stop every so often to pose and answer questions. I feel like a princess in my designer gown. Initially, I balked at wearing one, but Rita, and my new personal assistant, insisted. They said if I didn’t, I would be a spectacle, and not in a good way.

When we finally make it into the theater, I’m ready to sit. Thank God I took Rita’s advice about eating something before coming here.

“This is going to be a long night, filled with lots of talking and alcohol. If you don’t eat, you’ll regret it.” Damn, she was right.

When we get to the front row, reserved for us, Helen is there, along with the crew from The Solution. Harrison’s parents are present, Rusty (along with a date), and so are Weston and Special, and Prescott and Vivi. Holt and Helen are still together, believe it or not, in an on-again/off-again way.

Danny and Greg are floating on a cloud because the reviews for this movie are off the charts. Everyone says both Holt and I are shoe-ins for Oscar nominations. I won’t hold my breath. I’m purely excited that the film is being thought of so highly. I have offers coming in right and left. My agent can barely keep up with everything.

We watch Turned and not a peep can be heard in the theater. In the final scene, when the letter is read, I hear people sobbing, and I’ll admit, I’m one of them. When the credits roll, a thundering applause breaks out. Harrison pulls me to my feet and swings me around in the air. Then Holt does the same, followed by Danny and Greg.

“I knew you had it. I saw that spark from the start,” Danny says.

Harrison pulls me close and whispers, “So did I. So did I, Midnight.”